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How to fight with your co-founder

Every founding team is a mix of personalities, communication styles, and strengths. That can be a superpower or cause founders to butt heads. Without a clear framework for navigating conflict, even the strongest teams can fall apart before they really get started. This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Ian Schmidt, strategic…

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Every founding team is a mix of personalities, communication styles, and strengths. That can be a superpower or cause founders to butt heads. Without a clear framework for navigating conflict, even the strongest teams can fall apart before they really get started.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Ian Schmidt, strategic advisor at Trimergence, to unpack the “personal operating system” behind every founder. As a coach, consultant, and occasionally a bouncer, Ian helps teams build the self-awareness and relational tools they need to scale without unnecessary friction.

They discuss:

🧩 Why founders should invest in coaching before conflict escalates
🧩 How to repair after conflict goes sideways
🧩 The importance of understanding your own triggers as a leader
🧩 How to create space for the self-work that actually saves time long-term

Following last week’s episode on family co-founders, this conversation expands those lessons into practical tools any founding team can use.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you’re thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we’re back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

Chapters:
00:00 Why Conflict Isn’t the Problem
02:18 The Founder Operating System
04:21 Why Co-Founders Clash
05:34 How to Map Your Personal OS
10:26 Start Early or Pay Later
16:59 Frameworks for Navigating Conflict
23:32 Relationships, Loneliness & Support Systems
31:15 Identity, Habits & Scaling Yourself

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. @Ladynerd90

    March 19, 2026 at 12:34 pm

    Wonderful episode and much needed

    Reply

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CNET

Fitbit Air Review: The ‘Anti-Smartwatch’ You’ve Been Waiting For | All Things Mobile

The Fitbit Air might be the “anti-smartwatch” you’ve been waiting for. This $100 wearable features no screen, no notifications and no distractions, just pure health tracking. After two weeks of testing, I’m convinced Google’s screenless health tracker has staying power. 0:00 – Design and Minimalist Philosophy 0:36 – Smartwatch Withdrawals and Battery Life 1:52 –…

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May 30, 2026

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The Fitbit Air might be the “anti-smartwatch” you’ve been waiting for. This $100 wearable features no screen, no notifications and no distractions, just pure health tracking. After two weeks of testing, I’m convinced Google’s screenless health tracker has staying power.

0:00 – Design and Minimalist Philosophy
0:36 – Smartwatch Withdrawals and Battery Life
1:52 – Google Health App and AI Health Coach
2:41 – Accuracy and Fitness Tracking Trade-offs
4:10 – Use Case: Smartwatch Companion or Solo Tracker

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Science & Technology

Does your CEO have AI psychosis? Aaron Levie thinks most of them do. | Equity Podcast

The people deciding that AI can replace your job are also the ones least likely to understand what your job truly involves, according to Box founder Aaron Levie, who pointed to this as an example of “AI psychosis.” Indeed, ClickUp recently cut 22% of its workforcefor AI agents, tech layoffs in 2026 are already nearly…

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May 29, 2026

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The people deciding that AI can replace your job are also the ones least likely to understand what your job truly involves, according to Box founder Aaron Levie, who pointed to this as an example of “AI psychosis.” Indeed, ClickUp recently cut 22% of its workforcefor AI agents, tech layoffs in 2026 are already nearly matching all of 2025, and DuckDuckGo installs are climbing from users who want Google to stop forcing AI into search and just give them links.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what happens when the AI-pilled and the AI-skeptical are both right at the same time, plus three deals worth knowing about and Waymo’s new robotaxi hitting the road.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:18 Waymo’s new Ojai robotaxi

06:41 Stord raises $250M to take on Amazon fulfillment

12:46 Snowflake signs $6B deal with AWS

15:39 OpenRouter raises $113M Series B

20:07 The AI divide & anti-AI backlash

27:31 AI psychosis & how AI is reshaping headcount and hiring

37:04 Outro

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CNET

Siri’s New Look Is BRIGHT (What to Expect at WWDC26)

Recent reports offer clues about Siri’s new look and features. CNET’s Bridget Carey looks into what Apple may reveal at its big developers conference on June 8. 0:00 Changes are coming to Siri 0:14 WWDC begins June 8 0:26 Here comes a more personal Siri 0:36 Google Gemini and the new Siri 0:57 Siri’s new…

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May 29, 2026

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Recent reports offer clues about Siri’s new look and features. CNET’s Bridget Carey looks into what Apple may reveal at its big developers conference on June 8.

0:00 Changes are coming to Siri
0:14 WWDC begins June 8
0:26 Here comes a more personal Siri
0:36 Google Gemini and the new Siri
0:57 Siri’s new look
1:10 iPhone dark mode vs light mode
1:29 Will we like Siri’s new design?
1:49 Siri could be like a chat bot
2:22 A new app for Siri
2:37 Siri and natural language shortcuts
2:50 Custom wallpapers could be coming with Apple Intelligence
3:10 Grammar check updates in iOS
3:26 Apple Playground and Weather updates
3:33 Changing the iPhone Camera app
4:08 Set a default AI model
4:28 Apple Watch updates
4:44 New Apple TV accessibility features
4:55 Tim Cook’s final WWDC as Apple CEO
5:09 What do you want from Siri?

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